Stray Thoughts on Oriya Literature

It is a truism to say that literature, as reflecting the ideas and ideals, joys and sorrows, experience and aspirations of a people, is the most expressive medium of a people’s civilisation. Still, it is a truism that is also a truth to be discovered again and again. In the melting-pot of diverse tendencies of different races and communities in modern India, it is needless to point out that a section of her people can withstand the present conflict of cultures of the Orient and the Occident, of the ancient and modern in our country, and can secure self-existence more by means of the inherent strength of culture than by any political expediency or economic self-sufficiency. And in this task nothing can help culture better than literature. On the principle of ‘give and take’ a particular literature should give what is true, good and beautiful in it to the outside world; at the same time it has to assimilate from all sources available all that is noble and inspiring in life. This is the first task in the domain of Oriya literature. On the basis of the present material poverty of Orissa and its wardness in the modern scheme of education, there is a general assumption that its original culture, inclusive of its literature, is poor and not up to a standard. If this assumption is ill-founded, it has to be removed. The world is now a close-knit unit; time and distance are shortened; days of narrow self-sufficiency are gone, and a new orientation of mutual international understanding has come. On this principle, we have to reveal and interpret the ancient beauty of our language, the richness of our literature, the devotional inspiration of our Deenakrishna, the matchless metaphorical imagery and infinite variety of diction of Upendra, the sweet melody and psychological delineation of love of Kavi Surya, the lyrical exquisiteness of Gopalakrishna, the epic grandeur of Krishna Sinha, the synthesis of the old with the new of Radhanath the complexity of thought and feeling of latter-day writers, our inexhaustible mine of myth, folklore, arts and sciences–in fact, all branches of our traditional wisdom–to the world at large. At the same time the deep study of nature, human and otherwise, of the master-minds of all other times and climes, of a Dante or a Shakespeare, an Emerson or a Hugo, a Goethe or a Pascal, a Milton or a Shaw, in fact of all philosophers, litterateurs, artists and scientists, has to be incorporated into our literature, so that it may attain the widest, most comprehensive and catholic outlook.

For this purpose the first requisite is an exhaustive compilation of a comparative history of Oriya literature on the lines of modern research. It may be brought out under the different heads of Prose, Poetry, Drama, Music, Fiction, etc., or chronologically from the time of the formulation of the Oriya language, century by century, in the manner of historical development or centring round eminent writers. This work should undoubtedly be in the mother-tongue; but, I suggest, an English edition of it is all the more essential for reasons already stated. Political controversy may incite us today to relegate English to the ground. It may also be quite necessary to do so for the cultivation of our provincial languages. But it is better to recognise the truth that English has linked us to the broader world of today; it has come to stay with us; its world-wide importance as a cultural and business medium at present cannot be ignored; on its wings floated the national consciousness of renascent India.

So, as a preliminary to the compilation-work referred to, a well-illustrated English monthly of a high standard, unique as a perfect organ of expression of our culture, must be published at the outset. The Triveni, as a happy blend of the literary, artistic and historic consciousness of ancient as well as modern India, affords us an inspiring example in this direction. There are now two English monthlies current in Orissa–the ‘Vaitarini’ and the ‘Current Affairs’. May one hope that they will rise to the occasion and be our mouth-piece in this aspiration?

Again, much of our twentieth century intellectual content and equipment is of a technical mould and character. Our literature is defective in this realm. There is a hopeless dearth of simple suitable books on biography, foreign travel, industry and commerce, history and polity, in short on different physical, mental, social and spiritual sciences and arts, either for general or academic study. A few individual attempts have of course been made to supply this need and they are laudable; but that is not sufficient. In this matter we may follow the salutary example set by the University of Calcutta, which has just begun editing a number of books, a hundred pages each, on all technical and scientific subjects; and it is gratifying to note that the great poet Rabindranath himself has undertaken to write the first volume of the series.

Closely connected with this subject is that of compiling an up-to-date Oriya Lexicon on scientific terminology, for the lack of which our writers are greatly handicapped. For this purpose we may draw freely and copiously from the rich store of our classical languages. At the same time there should be no hesitation to adapt usages, idioms and linguistic constructions from foreign languages in unavoidable cases. Assimilation is the law of life, though, of course, it should not be deadened through blind imitation. Along with scientific terminology, classical allusions should also be considered.

The tasks touched upon in this article are difficult of accomplishment, requiring patient, critical, continuous study of the different world literatures, classical and modern. They also require an intelligent grasp of fundamentals and their practical application to everyday life. One or two persons cannot do it. It requires expert bodies, each specialising in a particular branch, and all co-ordinating with one another. Individually there are such experts in Orissa and they are turning out useful work. But they have to be brought together on a common platform, and a wholesome nucleus of work should be formed. Orissa has no university of its own to take the initiative in the matter. But there is the ‘Utkal Sahitya Samaj,’ our premier literary institution, with many other local associations. I appeal to them to take up the work.

Then comes the question of finance, without which many of our attempts at national regeneration end in pious platitudes, vague imaginings or airy nothings. The benign Government of Orissa have sanctioned an amount of ten thousand rupees this year for the improvement of Oriya literature. At least a portion of this amount will be more substantially helpful if utilised on a well-directed, carefully planned basis than if spent casually and only for the encouragement of individual writers.

True literature, it may be stated in conclusion, is a mirror of the world of choicest circumstance and thought. Human civilisation, with all its manifold activities and in all its countless changes, most typically manifests itself in literature. It reflects our material, mental, emotional, and moral progress or retardation through the medium of language, beautified and sublimated by art. The complex our civilisation, our social and political institutions and experience, the more developed will be our art, literature and philosophy.